TAGBILARAN CITY, Bohol (PIA) \u2014 The National Irrigation Administration (NIA) is advising some Bohol farmers to plant high-value commercial crops instead of water-intensive rice.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Three small reservoir irrigation projects (SRIPs) may not have enough water to serve all their farms during the expected El Ni\u00f1o dry spell.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
NIA Engineering, Construction and Operations Services Division Chief Evaristo Borja said the agency laid out its El Ni\u00f1o mitigation measures after the state weather bureau raised the El Ni\u00f1o Watch to El Ni\u00f1o Alert on April 22.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Speaking at the Kapihan sa PIA forum, Borja said three SRIPs in Bohol may not have enough irrigation water to serve their entire coverage areas: the Ilihan system in Tubigon, the Tugas Can-olin system in Candijay and the Ilaya system in Ubay.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
NIA, which mainly supplies water for rice farming, has advised farmer-irrigators in the affected areas to plant high-value commercial crops (HVCC) while water remains scarce.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Borja said HVCCs are drought-tolerant, require lower production costs and maintenance, and command strong market demand that can yield sufficient profit per hectare.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Farms in San Agustin and San Roque in Talibon, Balbalan in Dimiao, and Tiguis in Lila have chosen watermelon as their alternative crop, where some water is available.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Other viable options include ginger, turmeric, cassava, sweet potato, ube, gabi (in moist areas), peanuts, mung beans, string beans, squash, and gourds.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Farms from Calunasan to Mandaug in Calape have turned to eggplant and ampalaya (bitter gourd) when irrigation water becomes scarce.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
These crops require less water and have shorter production cycles, allowing farmers to return to rice once favorable conditions resume, Borja said. (Rey Anthony Chiu\/ PIA Bohol)<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
TAGBILARAN CITY, Bohol (PIA) \u2014 The National Irrigation Administration (NIA) is advising some Bohol farmers to plant high-value commercial crops instead of water-intensive rice. Three small reservoir irrigation projects (SRIPs) may not have enough water to serve all their farms during the expected El Ni\u00f1o dry spell. NIA Engineering, Construction<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":8450,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"om_disable_all_campaigns":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[33,7,12,34,13],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-18978","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-banner-news","category-news","category-this-week-banner-news","category-this-week-top-stories-top","category-top-stories",""],"yoast_head":"\n